Aunchalee E.L. Palmquist
Director of Graduate Studies, Duke Global Health Institute
Associate Professor of the Practice in Global Health
Associate Professor of the Practice in Cultural Anthropology
Appointment:
Aunchalee E.L. Palmquist
Director of Graduate Studies, Duke Global Health Institute
Associate Professor of the Practice in Global Health
Associate Professor of the Practice in Cultural Anthropology
Dr. Aunchalee Palmquist is an Associate Professor of the Practice at the Duke Global Health Institute with a secondary appointment in Cultural Anthropology. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC Chapel Hill. She holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
Dr. Palmquist is a health equity scholar, feminist ethnographer, and internationally recognized breastfeeding and human lactation researcher. Her scholarship bridges biocultural medical anthropology and global health. Inspired by feminist anthropology, Indigenous methodologies, bioethics, and human rights frameworks, she uses research to uncover root causes of health inequities and to imagine new directions for policy, practice, and advocacy. Dr. Palmquist has over 20 years of experience conducting ethnographic, mixed-methods, and community-based participatory research and collaborates on interdisciplinary research with scholars from around the world.
Prior to joining DGHI, Dr. Palmquist was an Assistant Professor at the UNC Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. She was the 2021 recipient of a Gillings Faculty Award for Excellence in Health Equity Research and a two-time recipient of a Teaching Innovation Award in the Gillings School, Department of Maternal and Child Health (2020, 2023).
Dr. Palmquist has served as a CGBI representative on the WHO/UNICEF Global Breastfeeding Collective (2017-2023), the Emergency Nutrition Network IFE Core Group (2017-2023), and the United States Breastfeeding Committee as Co-Steward of the COVID-19 Infant and Young Child Feeding Constellation (2020-2023). Dr. Palmquist has previously served as an International Lactation Consultants Association liaison to the United Nations (2017).
Publications
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Phonyiam R, Teng C-H, Sullivan C, Palmquist A, Hodges E, Cortés Y, et al. Challenges and support factors in managing type 2 diabetes among pregnant women in Thailand: A convergent mixed-methods study. Belitung nursing journal. 2025 Jan;11(1):35–47.Phonyiam R, Teng C-H, Cortés YI, Sullivan CS, Palmquist AEL, Hodges EA, et al. "Feeding the baby breast milk shouldn't be a problem" breastfeeding confidence and intention in pregnant persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Thailand. PLOS global public health. 2025 Jan;5(2):e0004205.Derosset L, Neeley H, Palmquist A. Innovations in Virtual Care. In: The Practical Playbook III: Working Together to Improve Maternal Health. 2024. p. 427–42.Meier BM, Palmquist AEL, Dockery M, Saggi N, Ekeigwe K, Latorre I, et al. The 2024 U.S. Elections: Global Health Policy at a Crossroads. The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 2024 Jan;52(2):498–505.
See more publications at Scholars@Duke